Masood Masjoody's (pictured) killers allegedly wanted to ”silence” him days before his death. (Image Credit: IHIT / Provided)

By The Canadian Press, Alyssa Conti

Legal Battles

Iran activist alleges murder suspects sought to ‘silence’ Masjoody a month before remains found in Mission

Mar 22, 2026 | 8:58 AM

VANCOUVER — A B.C. naturopath had filed an affidavit detailing a meeting she had with Masood Masjoody’s killers days before the mathematician went missing from his Burnaby home.

The document said Rosita Fatemi and her two fellow founding directors of a West Vancouver-based non-profit opposing the Iranian regime met with Arezou Soltani and Mehdi Ahmadzadeh Razavi to discuss a lawsuit filed by Masjoody, who had accused the pair of aligning with the dictatorship.

During the meeting, Fatemi alleges that Soltani wanted to know how to “silence” someone, in a way that would “look natural.”

“She also asked me for a drug substance to ‘get rid of him.’ Based on the context of the discussion, I understood her to be referring to the plaintiff (Masjoody) and causing him to be murdered,” she said.

The affidavit was filed in Masjoody’s lawsuit against the pair, the foundation and others on January 28.

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Five days later, the Burnaby resident was reported missing, and on March 6, his remains were found in Mission.

Razavi and Soltani have now been charged with first-degree murder in his death, although police have not said how he died.

A “vexatious litigant”

Homicide investigators said police were initially unaware of the allegations contained in Fatemi’s affidavit.

The academic had an extensive legal record after filing so many lawsuits, to the point that a judge branded him a “vexatious litigant” for wasting court resources.

His laundry list of lawsuits alleged that he was a victim of harassment and defamation, which saw him battling former colleagues at Simon Fraser University, judges, lawyers, media and fellow members of the anti-Iranian regime activist community, including Razavi and Soltani.

Sgt. Freda Fong, spokeswoman for B.C.’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said police were aware of the 45-year-old’s disputes with the suspects.

“It’s on the public record that there are ongoing civil disputes as well as exchanges on social media platforms involving the victim as well as the accused,” Fong said on March 14 at a Surrey news conference. “Whether or not that forms a motive of the homicide, it is still under investigation.”

Fong said in an emailed statement to The Canadian Press that homicide investigators only became involved after he went missing, and before that, “had no knowledge of Mr. Masjoody or any alleged plot against him.”

“Once we took over the case, over the course of our investigation, we came across an abundance of disputes including those over social media as well as the material in the civil claims,” Fong said.

Soltani and Razavi are due back in court on March 25.

– With files from The Canadian Press